Date   : Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:29:36 +0100
From   : dm.hunt@... (David Hunt)
Subject: New storage system suggestinons?

> I like the GoMMC a lot, but I'm using it less and less, mainly because
> it's a completely internal solution, and so you have to pull the top
> off your beeb if you want to change anything on the card.

You can manufacture an external reader from a few components, but it's easy
to take the lid off when there are no screws in it :)

> 
> Additionally, as the card is formatted in a custom way, you have to
> use a custom tool to add or remove anything from it. (I'm actually in
> the middle of writing suite of Mac tools to make life far more
> pleasant for it, as it happens.) It also only takes MMC cards, which
> are getting harder to find.

There's plenty of websites flogging MMCplus cards, these work perfectly in
place of the original MMC, which I agree, is getting hard to find.

> 
> Finally, it uses up a sideways RAM bank (there are ways around this,
> but they are awkward), and has an annoying tendency to corrupt its
> ROM, requiring semi-regular re-flashes.

If you set FSRM to 0 and FSNR to 0 the GoMMC won't keep on trying to
overwrite its FRAM each time you boot or do a CTRL-BREAK. That has made my
GoMMC work faultlessly ever since. Of course, you're going to have to change
the configuration values or use sideways RAM, for different filing systems.
Once the FS has been loaded, make sure you set those values to 0. Reading
the manual doesn't really help: GoMMC = :) / manual = :(

I have yet to buy a DataCentre - I'm sure I will at some point - I'm waiting
for some killer app that makes me go ooooooooooh I want one of those!

I bought an Master Ethernet card from Sprow and that is dead handy for
sending stuff back and forth to the PC, GoMMC and 5.25" floppy, the only
gripe I have about that is that it doesn't automatically log on to the
network on initialization. I would like the Ethernet module in a Model B...

Dave ;)